Gemotions

He sat on the park bench, the newspaper crumpled in his hands. The air felt thick, heavy, as though he were breathing through cotton. The article, his meticulously researched and crafted piece on climate change, stared back at him from the printed page. His name was nowhere to be seen.

He stared at the headline, his jaw clenched. He felt a deep, twisting ache in his gut. Sunlight glinted off the passing cars, but he didn’t see them. He only saw the betrayal printed in bold black ink.

He crushed the paper tighter in his fist, the edges digging into his palm. He swallowed hard, trying to quell the rising tide of… something. He didn’t know how he was going to explain this to his family.